“All you believers in the light, that are become children of the light, walk as children of the light, and of the day of Christ; as a city set on a hill, that cannot be hid. Let your light shine, that people may see your good works, and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. For a good tree bringeth forth good fruit; therefore be ye trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, having fruits unto holiness; and then your end will be everlasting life. Such are the wells and cisterns, that hold the living water, which springs up in them to eternal life. Ye may all drink water out of your own cisterns, running water out of your own wells; and eat every one of his own fig-tree, and of his own vine: having salt every one in yourselves, to season every one’s sacrifice, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ; and like unto the wise virgins, that have oil in their lamps, follow the Lamb, and enter in with the bridegroom. Now is the time to labour, while it is day (yea, the day of Christ), to stir up every one’s pure mind, and the gift of God that is in them; and to improve your talents, that Christ hath bestowed upon you, that ye may profit; and to walk every one according to the measure that Christ hath given you; for ‘the manifestation of the Spirit of God is given to every one to profit withal.’

“Consider what you have profited in spiritual and heavenly things, with the heavenly Spirit of God. Be not like the wicked and slothful, that hid his talent, from whom it was taken, and he cast into utter darkness. A dwarf, or one that had any blemish, was not to come nigh to offer upon God’s altar; therefore mind the word of wisdom, to keep you out of that which will corrupt and blemish you; and that ye may grow in grace, and in faith, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ: and feeding upon the milk of the word, may grow by it, that ye may not be dwarfs; and so offer your spiritual sacrifice upon God’s holy altar. For the field or vineyard of the slothful grows over with thorns and nettles, and his walls go down. Such are they that are not diligent in the Spirit of God, and the power, which is the wall, a sure fence. The Spirit of God will weed all thorns, thistles, and nettles, out of the vineyard of the heart.

“And you, that are keepers of others’ vineyards, see that you keep your own vineyard clean with the Spirit and power of Christ. Sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the Lord in your hearts, that ye may be a holy people to the Lord, who saith, ‘Be ye holy, for I am holy:’ that ye may be the holy members of the church of Christ, that is clothed with the sun, and hath the moon under her feet; the changeable world with all her changeable worships, religions, churches, and teachers. Be ye new and heavenly Jerusalem’s children: for new and heavenly Jerusalem, that is above, is the mother of all the children of light, and that are born of the Spirit. These are they that have been persecuted, and have suffered by the false church, mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots.

“And now, all heavenly Jerusalem’s and Sion’s children, that are from above, labour in the gospel, the power of God, and the Seed, in which all nations, and all the families of the earth are blessed: which Seed, Christ, bruises the serpent’s head, and destroys the devil and his works, and overcomes the whore, the false church, the beast, and the false prophet. He takes away the curse, and the veil that is spread over all nations, and over all the families of the earth; and brings the blessing upon all (if they will receive it) saying, ‘In thy seed shall all nations and all the families of the earth be blessed.’ This is the gospel of God preached to Abraham, before Moses wrote his five books, and was preached in the apostles’ days, and is now preached again; which brings life and immortality to light; and is the gospel of peace, life, and salvation, to every one that believes it. So all nations, and all the families of the earth, must be in Christ, the Seed, if they be blessed, and be partakers of the blessing in the Seed.

“This gospel was revealed by Christ unto his apostles, who preached it; which is not of man, nor from man. Now, God and Christ hath revealed the same gospel unto me, and many others in this age (I say, the gospel and the Seed, in which all nations and families of the earth are blessed;) in which gospel I have laboured, and do labour, that all may come into this blessed Seed, Christ, who bruises the head of the serpent, that in it they might have peace with God. This everlasting gospel is preached again to them that dwell upon the earth; and they that believe it, and receive it, receive the blessing, the peace, joy, and comfort of it; and the stability in it, and the life and immortality, which it brings to light in them and to them. Such can praise the everlasting God in his everlasting gospel.

“And Friends, all seek the peace and good of all in Christ: for truth makes no Cains, Korahs, Balaams, nor Judases; for they come to be such that go out of the peaceable truth. Therefore walk in the peaceable truth, and speak the truth in the love of it, as it is in Jesus.”

“My dear Friends and brethren everywhere, who have received the Lord Jesus Christ, and to whom he has given power to become his sons and daughters; in Him ye have life and peace, and in his everlasting kingdom, that is established and cannot be shaken, but is over all the world, and stands in his power, and in righteousness, and joy in the Holy Ghost, into which no unrighteousness, nor the foul, unclean spirit of the devil in his instruments can enter. Therefore, dear Friends and brethren, every one in the faith of Jesus, stand in His power, who has all power in heaven and in earth given to him, and will ‘rule the nations with his rod of iron, and dash them to pieces, like a potter’s vessel,’ that are not subject and obedient to his power; whose voice will shake the heavens and the earth, that that which may be shaken may be removed, and that which cannot be shaken may appear. Stand in Him; and all things shall work together for good to them that love him.

“And now, dear Friends and brethren, though these waves, and storms, and tempests be in the world, yet you may all appear the harmless and innocent lambs of Christ, walking in his peaceable truth, keeping in the Word of power, wisdom, and patience; and this Word will keep you in the day of trials and temptations, that will come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. For the Word of God was before the world, and all things were made by it; it is a tried Word, which gave all God’s people in all ages wisdom, power, and patience. Therefore let your dwelling and walking be in Christ Jesus, who is called the Word of God; and in his power, which is over all. Set your affections on things that are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God (mark,) on those things which are above, where Christ sits; not on those things that are below, which will change, and pass away. Blessed be the Lord God, who by his eternal arm and power hath gathered a people to himself; and hath preserved hishis faithful to himself through many troubles, trials, and temptations; his power and Seed, Christ, is over all, and in Him ye have life and peace with God. Therefore in Him all stand, and see your salvation, who is the First and Last, the Amen. God Almighty preserve and keep you all in Him, your ark and sanctuary; in Him you are safe over all floods, storms, and tempests; for He was before they were, and will be when they are all gone.”

London, the 17th of the 8th Month, 1688.

“The house of Israel was called God’s Vineyard, in Isa. v. 7, and all the Israelites were called the house of Israel. Israel signifies ‘a prince with God, and a prevailer with men,’ Gen. xxxii. 28. When Peter preached Christ to the house of Israel, he said, ‘Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ,’ Acts ii. 36. So they were all called the house of Israel. And it is said, ‘Moses was faithful in all his house (to wit, this house of Israel), as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ, as a son, over his own house, which house are we, if we hold fast the confidence, and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end,’ Heb. iii. 5, 6. Here it is manifest, that Moses was faithful in all his house, as a servant, viz., in the house of Israel, in the Old Testament; but Christ Jesus, the Son of God, is over his house in his new Testament and Covenant; and all his true believers are of his house.

“The apostle tells the Ephesians (who were the church of Christ,) ‘They were fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,’ Eph. ii. 19. And the saints are called ‘the household of faith,’ Gal. vi. 10. Peter in his general epistle tells the church of Christ, they were ‘a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people,’ 1 Pet. ii. 9. And that as lively stones, they were built up ‘a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ,’ ver. 5. The apostle says to the church of Christ at Corinth, ‘If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,’ 2 Cor. v. 1. And Christ said to his disciples, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions (a mansion is a dwelling, or abiding place;) if it were not so, I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am,am, there ye may be also,’ John xiv. 1-3. The Psalmist saith, ‘Those that be planted in the house of the Lord, shall flourish in the courts of our God; they shall bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing,’ Psal. xcii. 13, 14. Again, ‘Holiness becomes thine house, O Lord, for ever,’ Psal. xciii. 5.

“Isaiah also said by way of prophecy, ‘It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it,’ Isa. ii. 2. Is not that a great house? Is not this mountain, Christ, who is over his house in the New Testament and New Covenant? To this mountain and house all the children of the New Testament and New Covenant flow in these latter days, so that it is come to pass, which was prophesied of by Isaiah; for he said, ‘Many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord,’ ver. 3-5. Here ye may see, they that come to the mountain of the house of God, and to God’s teaching, must walk in the light of the Lord; yea the house of Jacob. Jacob signifies a supplanter; he supplanted profane Esau, who is hated, and Jacob is loved.

“Now these two births must be known within; and they that walk in the light of the Lord, and come to Christ, the mountain of the house of the Lord, established above all mountains and hills, break their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; and in Christ, this mountain and house of the Lord, there are no spears, nor swords to hurt one another withal. Christ, the Son of God, is over his house and great family, the children of the light, that believe in it, and walk in it, the children of the day of Christ, his holy and royal priesthood, that offer up spiritual sacrifice to God by him. All such are of Christ’s (the spiritual man’s) house, who are born of God, and led by his Spirit; they are of the Lord of lords, and King of kings’ house and family, which he is over; and are of the household of the holy, divine, pure, and precious faith, which Christ is the author and finisher of. And they that are of the Son’s house, are pure, righteous, and holy, and can do nothing against the truth, but for it, in their words, lives, and conversations; and so are a chosen generation, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that they should show forth the praise of Him, who hath called them out of darkness into his marvellous light. These are Christ’s lively stones, that build up a spiritual house, which He (Christ, the spiritual man, the King of kings, and Lord of lords) is over.”

London, the 10th Month, 1688.

“That while men are contending for thrones here below, Christ is on his throne, and all his holy angels are about him; who is the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last, over all. And that the Lord will make way and room for himself, and for them that are born of his Spirit, who are heavenly Jerusalem’s children, to come home to their free mother.”

“Doth not all that, which is called Christendom, live in talking of Christ’s, and of the apostles’ and prophets’ words, and the letter of the Scriptures? And do not their priests minister the letter, with their own conceptions thereupon, for money, though the Holy Scriptures were freely given forth from God and Christ, and his prophets and apostles? Yet the apostle says, ‘The letter killeth; but the Spirit giveth life,’ 2 Cor. iii. 6. The ministers of the New Testament are not ministers of the letter, but of the Spirit; and they sow to the Spirit, and of the Spirit reap life eternal. But people spending time about old authors, and talking of them, and of the outward letter, this doth not feed their souls. For talking of victuals and clothes, doth not clothe the body, nor feed it. No more are their souls and spirits fed and clothed, except they have the bread and water of life from heaven to feed them, and the righteousness of Christ to clothe them. Talking of outward things and spiritual things, and not having them, may starve both their bodies and their souls. Therefore, quench not the Spirit of God, which will lead to be diligent in all things.”

“The Jews were commanded by the law of God, ‘Not to remove the outward land-mark,’ Deut. xix. 14. They that did so, or that caused the blind to wander, were cursed in the Old Covenant, Deut. xxvii. 17. In the New Covenant the apostle saith, ‘Let him be accursed, that preacheth any other gospel than that which he had preached,’ Gal. i. 8. Now the gospel that he preached, was ‘The power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth,’ Rom. i. 16. And the gospel that was preached to Abraham was, ‘That in his seed all nations, and all the families of the earth should be blessed.’ And in order to bring men to this blessed state, God poureth out of his Spirit upon all flesh; and Christ doth enlighten every one that cometh into the world; and the grace of God, which bringeth salvation, hath appeared unto all men, and teacheth Christians, the true believers in Christ; and God doth write his law in the true Christians’ hearts, and putteth it in their minds, that they may ‘all know the Lord, from the greatest to the least;’least;’ and he giveth his word in their hearts to obey and do, and the anointing within them; so that they need not any man to teach them, but as the anointing doth teach them.

“Now all such as turn people from the Light, Spirit, Grace, Word, and Anointing within, remove them from their heavenly landmark of their eternal inheritance, and make them blind; and cause the blind to wander from the living way to their eternal house in the heavens, and from the new and heavenly Jerusalem. So they are cursed, that cause the blind to wander out of their way, and to remove them from their heavenly landmark.”

“Righteous Abel was a shepherd, ‘a keeper of sheep,’ Gen. iv. 2. Noah was a husbandman; and he was a ‘just man, and perfect in his generation, and walked with God,’ Gen. ix. 20; vi. 9. Abraham, the father of the faithful, was a husbandman, and had great flocks of cattle; and just Lot was a husbandman, and had great flocks and herds, Gen. xiii. Isaac also was a husbandman, and had great ‘flocks and herds of cattle, and great store of corn,’ Gen xxvi. 12, 14. And the promise was with Isaac; for the Lord said to Abraham, ‘In Isaac shall thy seed be called,’ Gen. xxi. 12. Jacob was a husbandman, and his sons keepers of flocks of cattle, Gen. xlvi. 32, 34, and God loved Jacob. Moses kept sheep, Exod. iii. 1, and the Lord spake to him when he was keeping sheep, ver. 4, and sent him to Pharaoh, to bring God’s people, or sheep, out of Egypt. And by the hand and power of the Lord, he and Aaron his brother brought them out of Egypt, a land of anguish, bondage, darkness, and perplexity. And Moses kept the Lord’s people, or sheep, forty years in the wilderness; a meek shepherd of God he was, and kept his great flock of sheep: though some of them were scabbed with the leprosy of contention and murmuring, and were destroyed in the wilderness.

“David (though he afterwards came to be a king) was a keeper of his father’s sheep in the wilderness, 1 Sam. xvii. 15, 28. And the Lord God called him from the sheepcotes to feed his sheep, the house of Israel, and to defend them from the spiritual wolves, bears, and lions; and he did it to purpose, who was a man after God’s own heart.

“Elisha was a ploughman, 1 Kings xix. 19. He was called from the plough, to teach God’s people, the children of Israel, to plough up the fallow ground of their hearts, that they might bring forth seed and fruits to God, their Creator.

“The word of the Lord came to Amos, when he was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, Amos i. 1. And Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, said to Amos, ‘Prophesy not again any more at Bethel; for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court,’ chap. vii. 13. Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, ‘I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was a herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore-fruit; and the Lord took me, as I followed the flock. And the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel,’ ver. 14, 15. Here ye may see, how the Lord made use of a poor man, and how he called him from following the outward flock, and from gathering outward fruits, to gather his fruits, and to follow his people or flock, the children of Israel.

“Christ called Peter and Andrew his brother, when they were fishing, and casting their net into the sea (for they were fishers;) ‘and he said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,’ Matt. iv. 18, 19. Christ likewise called James and John his brother, when they were ‘in a ship, with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets; and they immediately left the ship, and their father, and followed him,’ ver. 21, 22. He gave them power (a net that will hold, and not want mending), and made them fishers of men, to fish them out of the great sea, the world of wickedness. We read, that when Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee, and other disciples, went a fishing together, and that night caught nothing, in the morning Jesus appeared to them and said, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find;’ and they did so, and caught so great a multitude, that they were not able to draw them to shore. When thereupon one of the other disciples said unto Peter, ‘It is the Lord,’ Peter hearing that it was the Lord, ‘girded his fisher’s coat unto him,’ John xxi. 2-7. This was after Christ was risen. So here ye may see, Peter had not laid aside his fisher’s coat all the while that he had been preaching before Christ’s death.

“‘Jesus saw Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom, and he said unto him, Follow me; and he arose and followed him,’ Matt. ix. 9. And Christ employed Matthew to gather his people, that were scattered from God; another manner of treasure than the outward custom of the Romans. Luke was a physician, whom Christ made a physician spiritual; which was better than outward.

“Paul was a tent-maker; and being one of the same craft with Aquila and Priscilla, he abode with them at Corinth, and wrought (for by their occupation they were tent-makers), Acts xviii. 3.”

Gooses, the 1st Month, 1688-9.

“In the low region, in the airy life, all news is uncertain; there nothing is stable; but in the higher region, in the kingdom of Christ, there all things are stable and sure, and the news always good and certain. For Christ, who hath all power in heaven and in earth given unto him, ruleth in the kingdoms of men; and he, who doth inherit the heathen, and possess the utmost parts of the earth with his divine power and light, rules all nations with his rod of iron, and dashes them to pieces like a potter’s vessel, the vessels of dishonour, and the leaky vessels, that will not hold his living water; and he doth preserve his elect vessels of mercy and honour. His power is certain, and changes not, by which he removes the mountains and hills, and shakes the heavens and the earth. Leaky, dishonourable vessels, the hills and mountains, and the old heavens and the earth, are all to be shaken, and removed, and broken to pieces, though they do not see it, nor him that doth it; but his elect and faithful both see it and know him, and his power, that cannot be shaken, and which changeth not.”

The 5th of 1st Month, 1688-9.

“Dear Friend P. H.

“With my love to thee and thy wife, J. Claus, and J. Roeloffs, and all the rest of Friends everywhere in Christ Jesus, who reigns over all. I am glad to hear that Friends are well everywhere, except at Dantzic; and that you were so diligent in spreading my papers to the strengthening of Friends. I have lately printed the life of William Caton, but have not made a collection of his books. I think to send some of them to you, which you may translate and print, if you will; they may be serviceable among Friends, especially them that knew him.^[63]

“Concerning the dear Friends at Dantzic, whom the Lord hath supported by his eternal arm and power to this day; I hope by the same arm and power he will support them, and in it they will feel his blessed presence with them in all their sufferings; who is over the cruelty of their persecutors, who will hardly let them breathe outwardly or inwardly in the common air of their native soil. Which shows both their immorality, inhumanity, and unchristianity, and that they want the counsel of a Gamaliel amongst them; whose actions are below the law of God, to ‘do unto others as they would have others to do unto them:’ God will not bless the doings of such. I desire, however, that Friends may mind the Lord’s power, that is over all; be valiant for his truth, and keep upon their rock and foundation, Christ Jesus, that stands sure in this time of the heat of persecution, which is so hot upon you, that they will not suffer you to have so much as your houses to work and sleep in, nor to meet, nor serve God in. The Lord beholds all such actors and their actions. Therefore look over all to Him, who is able to deal with them and reward them according to their works. God Almighty preserve you all in Christ Jesus, in whom you have rest, life, and peace. Amen.”

Southgate, the 28th of the 2nd Month, 1689.

“To the Magistrates of Dantzic:—Christian Shroder, President of the Council, and Emanuel Dilger, N. Gadecken, and N. Fraterus, Deputies of the Council, and the rest of the Magistrates and Priests.

“We have seen your order, and your breathing out persecution against that little flock, the lambs of Christ, that live under your jurisdiction in the city of Dantzic; and that you have imprisoned and banished two by the hangman out of the government of your city; and others you threatened to do the same to, with great punishment, if they return. Likewise you threaten those with punishment they rent their houses of, if they let them have them either to live in, or meet in to serve and worship the Lord that made them. Truly I am heartily sorry for both your magistrates and priests, that go under the name of Christians, and show such immoral, inhuman, and unchristian actions, below the royal law of God, which is, to ‘do to others as you would have them do unto you.’ For would you think it was moral, human, or Christian, or according to the law of God, if the king of Poland, who is of another religion than you, should banish you out of your city by the hangman and call you murderers of souls? Could you say, but this was according to the law of God, ‘to do unto you as you have done unto others?’

“But if you say that you have the sword, the horn, and the power; blessed be the Lord that hath shortened your sword, your power, and your horn, that it reaches no further than your jurisdiction at Dantzic; and you do not know how long God may suffer you to have your horn, your power and your sword. We are sure you have not the mind, nor the Spirit of Christ; and the apostle saith, ‘They that have not the Spirit of Christ are none of his,’ Rom. viii. And Christ bids Peter ‘put up his sword:’ they that draw the sword concerning him, to defend him and his worship and faith, should perish with the sword. Peter and the apostles never drew the outward sword after; but said their weapons were spiritual, not carnal; and they did not wrestle with flesh and blood. Christ never gave any such command, that they should banish any by the hangmen that were not of their religion, and would not receive it.

“Are not you worse than the Turks, who let many religions be in their country, yea, Christians, and to meet peaceably? Yea, the Turkish patroons let our Friends that were captives meet together at Algiers, and said, ‘it was good so to do.’ You are worse than those barbarous people at Sallee who do not profess Christianity, for you profess Christ in words, but in works deny him. And did you ever find, either in Scripture or history, that any persecutors prospered long? You are worse than they are in the Mogul’s country, who, they say, permits sixty religions in his dominions: and many others might be mentioned, all of whom you exceed in your cruelty and persecution of God’s people, only for meeting together in the name of Jesus, and serving and worshipping God, their Creator. No, they must not breathe their natural air, neither natural nor spiritual, in your dominions. I pray, where had you these commands from? Neither from Christ nor his apostles. Do not you profess the Scriptures of the New Testament to be your rule? But, I pray you, what Scripture have you for this practice? It is good for you to be humble, to do justly, and love mercy; call home your banished ones, and love and cherish them: yea, though they were your enemies, you are to obey the command of Christ, and love them. I wonder how you and your wives and families can sleep quietly in your beds, that do such cruel actions, without thinking the ‘Lord may do to you the same!’ You cannot be without sense and feeling, except you be given over to reprobation, and your consciences seared with a hot iron. But Christian charity hopes that you are not all in that state; but that there may be some relenting or consideration of your actions among some of you, either according to the law of God, or his gospel.

“From him that desires your temporal and eternal good and salvation, and not destruction. Amen.”

Middlesex, the 28th of the 2nd Month, 1689.

“Peter, thou mayest translate this into high Dutch, and send them; and you may print it, if you will, and send it abroad; and translate that part of the letter that is to Friends into high Dutch, and send it to them.”

“Dear Friends and Brethren,

“Who have known the Lord’s eternal arm and power, that hath preserved you upon the heavenly rock and foundation, and hath built your house upon it; you have known many winds, tempests, and storms, that have risen out of that sea where the beast rose; and many raging storms that have risen by apostates of several sorts; but the Seed that bruises the serpent’s head, and is the foundation of God’s people, stands sure. Dear Friends and brethren, though there be great shakings in the world, the Lord’s power is over all, and his kingdom cannot be shaken. Therefore all ye children of God, children of the light, and heirs of his kingdom, a joyful, peaceable habitation keep in; keeping out of all the contentions and disputes about things below. Lay hand on no man, nor nothing suddenly, lest they should be puffed up with that which fades, and so come to loss: but mind the Lord’s power, that keeps open your heavenly eye, to see things present and to come; and in that ye will see and handle the word of life.

“Dear Friends everywhere, have power over your own spirits. As God hath blessed you with his outward things, have a care of trusting in them, or falling into difference one with another about these outward things that are below, which will pass away. But all live in the love of God, and in that live in peace with God, and one with another. Follow the works of charity, and overcome evil with good to all; for what good have all the tinklers done, with their cymbals and sounding brass? They always bred confusion, and never did good in any age; tinkling with their cymbals, and sounding with their brass, to draw out the simple to follow them. Therefore, it is good for all the children of God to keep in their possession of life, and in the love of God, that is everlasting.

“As for all the tumults of the world, and the apostates from the truth, the Lord’s power is over them all, and Christ reigns; and the Lord saith, ‘No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper,’ Isa. liv. 17. Now, Friends, you are not insensible how many weapons have been formed against us, who are the sons and daughters of God; and the Lord hath restrained them according to his promise; they have not prospered. The Lord said, ‘Every tongue that shall rise up in judgment against thee, thou shalt condemn:’ so God hath given such a power to his children, to condemn all the tongues that shall rise up in judgment against them, and this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord; ‘their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.’ You are not insensible of the many tongues that have risen up against us in judgment, yea, of apostates and profane. But in and with the truth, the power of God, according to the promise of God, ‘Every tongue that riseth against thee, thou shalt condemn.’ It is not one tongue only thou shalt condemn, but ‘every tongue that shall rise up in judgment against thee, thou shalt condemn.’ The Lord giveth this power to his servants and children, to judge the evil tongues; and he doth restrain the weapons formed against them, so that they shall not prosper against his children that he hath begotten. Praises and honour be to his holy name for ever! Amen.”

“Dear Friends and Brethren in Christ Jesus,

“Whom the Lord by his eternal arm and power hath preserved to this day, all walk in the power and Spirit of God, that is over all, in love and unity; for love overcomes, builds up, and unites all the members of Christ to him the Head. Love keeps out of all strife, and is of God. Love, or charity, never fails, but keeps the mind above all outward things, and strife about outward things. It overcomes evil, and casts out all false fears. It is of God, and unites all the hearts of his people together in the heavenly joy, concord, and unity. The God of love preserve you all, and establish you in Christ Jesus, your life and salvation, in whom ye have all peace with God. So walk in him, that ye may be ordered in his peaceable, heavenly wisdom, to the glory of God, and the comfort one of another. Amen.”

London, the 27th of the 3rd Month, 1689.

“My desires are that ye may live and walk in his peaceable truth, and show forth that ye are children of the light and of the truth; for the heavenly, gentle, and peaceable wisdom is justified of her children. But debate, strife, wilfulness, and laying open one another’s nakedness and weakness, is not the practice of heavenly wisdom’s children (but of Ham’s,) nor from the Spirit of Christ; neither such as bite and tear one another; that is from a devouring spirit, not from the Spirit of Jesus, which covers that which is uncomely, and can forgive.

“Now, my Friends, you profess that truth which is beyond all the world’s ways; therefore see that you excel them in the heavenly, gentle wisdom, that is easy to be entreated; for the wisdom of the world is not easy to be entreated; and sometimes will not be entreated at all. Pray see you excel the world in wisdom, in virtue, in kindness, in love that is over hatred, in meekness and humility, in sobriety, civility, and modesty, in temperance and patience, and in all morality and humanity, which will not act anything below men or unmanly. Show forth true Christianity, and that ye are the converted and translated believers in Christ, dwelling in the love of God, that beareth all things, endureth all things, is not puffed up, and envies not. For they that are out of this love of God and Christian charity, are nothing, but as a tinkling cymbal and as sounding brass, and are discontented, murmurers, and complainers, full of doubts, questions, and false jealousies. Keep that spirit out of the camp of God; for do not you read in the Scriptures, both of the New and Old Testament, that the end of such was misery? Therefore, in the love of God, build up one another; for love edifies the body of Christ, and he commands his believers to love enemies, and to love one another; by this they are known to be the disciples of Christ. But to live in envy, strife, and hatred, is a mark they are no disciples of Christ; ‘For he that loveth not his brother, abides in death; and whosoever hates his brother, is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. But they that love the brethren, are passed from death to life,’ 1 John iii. 14, 15. And, ‘if a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from God, that he who loveth God, love his brother also,’ chap. iv. 20, 21. ‘Therefore, love one another;’ for love is of God, and hatred is of the devil; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knows God. All are children of God by creation; therefore in that state they are to love their neighbours as themselves; and to do unto all men as they would have them do unto them.

“Secondly, God poureth his Spirit upon all flesh (or all men and women;) all that are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; and are in fellowship in the everlasting gospel; and in unity in the Spirit, the bond of peace. They that go out of this unity, out of the bond of peace, and do not keep it, break the King of king’s peace; but they that keep in the unity, and fellowship in the Spirit, and walk in the light, have fellowship one with another, and with the Father and the Son. It is not everyone that talks of the light, of the word, of righteousness, of Christ, and of God, but he that ‘doeth the will of God.’ Therefore, my Friends, strive to excel one another in love, in virtue, in good life and conversation; and strive all to be of one mind, heart, and judgment in the Spirit of God; for in Christ all are one, and are in peace with him. The Lord God Almighty preserve you in him, your rock and foundation, that is heavenly and stands sure; that ye may be valiant for the truth upon earth, for the Lord and his glorious name; that ye may all serve him in your generation, and in his new creation in Christ Jesus. Amen.

“And now, that you are come into so much favour with the magistrates and powers, that they let you serve the office of constable, &c., without swearing or taking any oaths, hereby Christ’s doctrine and command, and his apostle’s is set up. Therefore, I desire, that you may double your diligence in your offices, in doing that which is just, and true, and righteous; so that ye may excel and exceed all that are tied or bound by oaths to perform their offices; and you can do it upon your Yea and Nay; so say, and so do; according to Christ’s doctrine and command. For Adam and Eve, by disobeying the command of God, fell under condemnation; and they that disobey the command of Christ, in taking oaths and swearing, go into evil and fall into condemnation, Matt. v.; James v. My love in the Lord is to you all.”

Kingston-upon-Thames, the 10th of the 5th Month, 1689.